Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

China - Moon fly-by to soar by 2007 (that's 3 years away)
China Daily ^ | February 27, 2004 | uncredited member of the masses

Posted on 02/27/2004 3:01:27 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

China inaugurated its lunar exploration programme on Wednesday by announcing its plans to send a satellite on a moon "fly-by" within three years.

A leading team with the programme held its first meeting in Beijing on Wednesday to lay out the moon probe's scientific mission and its development schedule, Zhang Tao, an official with the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence, confirmed Thursday.

Details of the meeting were not immediately available.

But the China National Space Administration said in a statement that the lunar mission is another of China's key sci-tech projects in the wake of the country's massive manned space mission.

Sun Laiyan, deputy director of the space agency, said the moon-fly by satellite will travel to the lunar planet by 2007. It will obtain three-dimensional images of the lunar surface and study its composition.

Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the lunar exploration project, said Chinese technicians and experts are developing China's first lunar exploration craft, which, weighing around two tons, is projected to orbit the moon for at least 12 months.

The lunar orbiter was named "Chang'e-I,'' an apparent reference to an ancient Chinese legend about the fairy Chang'e who flies to the moon.

In fact, the lunar fly-by mission is just part of a three-phase moon exploration scheme, according to Sun.

After sending a satellite into lunar orbit, China will launch an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2010, and scoop up lunar soil and rock samples for return to Earth in around 2020.

Sun described the fly-by satellite project as an important step toward China's exploration of deeper space, and the Moon will provide a good platform from which to explore outward at longer distances.

China will use its Long March III A launch vehicle to launch the satellite, Sun said.

In a related development, Wang Yongzhi, chief designer of China's manned space programme, said last week China plans to send two astronauts up on a five-to-seven-day mission in 2005. It will later build a space station.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: china; exploration; moon; nationalsecurity; space
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last
To: Solamente
Thanks for the freepmail link, I'll check it out later.

SFR

21 posted on 02/27/2004 5:37:34 AM PST by SoFarRight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Solamente
bump
22 posted on 02/27/2004 5:40:59 AM PST by Centurion2000 (Resolve to perform what you must; perform without fail that what you resolve.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: SoFarRight
I asked you a question. You blew me off. Don't sweat it. I'll not post to you unless asked. O.K.?
23 posted on 02/27/2004 5:47:10 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Solamente; All
Mining and Manufacturing on the Moon

The main purpose of returning to the Moon is to prove we can use it's resources to live off-planet. The realization that we can will forever change space exploration. We will no longer be tied to Earth.

________________________________

Bush's charge to his space commission:

Scope and Objectives: The mission of the Commission shall be to provide recommendations to the President on implementation of the vision outlined in the President's policy statement entitled "A Renewed Spirit of Discovery" and the President's Budget Submission for Fiscal Year 2005 (collectively, "Policy"). The Commission shall examine and make recommendations to the President regarding:

a. A science research agenda to be conducted on the Moon and other destinations as well as human and robotic science activities that advance our capacity to achieve the Policy;

b. The exploration of technologies, demonstrations, and strategies, including the use of lunar and other in situ natural resources, that could be used for sustainable human and robotic exploration;

c. Criteria that could be used to select future destinations for human exploration; Long-term organization options for managing implementation of space exploration activities;

d. The most appropriate and effective roles for potential private sector and international participants in implementing the Policy; and

e. Methods for optimizing space exploration activities to encourage the interests of America’s youth in studying and pursuing careers in mathematics, science, and engineering; and Management of the implementation of the Policy within available resources.

24 posted on 02/27/2004 6:02:14 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
Good food, but no atmosphere


25 posted on 02/27/2004 6:07:51 AM PST by P.O.E. (D@mned if you do, Dem'd if you don't)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: P.O.E.
Sounds about right.
26 posted on 02/27/2004 6:18:25 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: SoFarRight
You're basically not allowed to post anything about China on FR without pants-wetting hyperbole over anything they do.....
27 posted on 02/27/2004 7:11:17 AM PST by John H K
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: SoFarRight
Learn to make replies sans all the personal attacks.
28 posted on 02/27/2004 7:12:08 AM PST by Lead Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: SoFarRight
Hmmm, great concern over a missle pointing at us from the moon, that'll take days to get here. The same missle pointing at us a mere few minutes away after launch, from their colony right here on earth. Any excuse in a pinch.

Nobody has ever quite been able to adequately explain the military value of a base on the Moon, it's just supposed to be accepted as obvious.

Consider the mind-boggling expense of actually building silos and whatnot underground on the Moon and supporting them after they're built.

Take that same amount of money (however many hundreds of billions of dollars) and consider that defenses against Earth-based ICBMs are still in their infancy, and think about how many hundreds of mundane earth-based silos or mobile transporter missles you could build for the money to put ONE missle on the Moon.

Or, how many quiet SSBNs each carrying a dozen or more SLBMs could be built, that could get fairly close to US shores and hit us in minutes, that you could build for the cost of one Moon-based missle.

And as you note, anything fired from the Moon would take at least a couple of days to hit Earth.

It fundamentally makes no sense but people have this "Well, the HIGH GROUND must be REALLY VALUABLE" mentality.

29 posted on 02/27/2004 7:15:37 AM PST by John H K
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
GO CHINA GO! To the WONG WEI LUNAR BASE.
30 posted on 02/27/2004 10:18:16 AM PST by swarthyguy (You have to remember that if you grow thorns, you will not harvest roses - Ayman Al-Zawahiri)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
The moon was out last night and the sky was clear enough to see the darkened limb. There are several private sector and public sector projects underway to land on the moon for various purposes. The moon is obviously the best place for beta testing construction robots that would later be put to work on asteroids and Mars. What is the going price per pound for lunar landing?
31 posted on 02/27/2004 10:25:06 AM PST by RightWhale (Theorems link concepts; proofs establish links)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
Price per pound to LEO x 32.

So what would that be with the Shuttle? $50K x 32?

With a Russian Proton booster? $2K x 32?

32 posted on 02/27/2004 11:17:09 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: John H K
Space is a big place to attack from and having the Moon as a base gives an aggressor country a lot of advantages. You're thinking in the present, China is thinking in the future.
33 posted on 02/27/2004 11:19:40 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
Price per pound to LEO x 32.

What? $32 per pound to LEO? Seems low.

Price per pound for lunar landing = ?

34 posted on 02/27/2004 11:21:41 AM PST by RightWhale (Theorems link concepts; proofs establish links)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: RightWhale
It could be less.

Anyway, $50K x 32 = $1,600,000.

$2K x 32 = $64,000.

Obviously, we need something besides the Shuttle.

35 posted on 02/27/2004 11:29:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
Not that the shuttle could get to the moon even if you really wanted it to. Its kind of a rigid system isn't it? With a regular ol' rocket you just modify it to have less payload and more fuel, but the shuttle already has a high minumum mass and you can't just store some extra fuel in the bay and go further. The shuttle's a good idea, but ahead of its time, or at least the time Congress has set us back by, and its way to complex. Thats not cool that every heat tile is crucial.

I thought once it would be cool if they had like a 3d lithography thing onboard or something like that so they could make and apply whatever tile was missing on orbit. That they never had any back up replacement for the tiles or even a way to get down to the bottom until after Columbia is a serious problem.
36 posted on 02/27/2004 9:43:06 PM PST by unibrowshift9b20
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife
LOL, yeah right.
37 posted on 02/27/2004 9:44:09 PM PST by Porterville (The truth has a ring to it, secularism is a religion- stop secular bigotry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson